Anastasia Roda is used to accolades, but this one took her by surprise.

Roda, a 19-year-old Harvard University freshman, was calling her parents in East Hempfield recently when her mother mentioned something she'd seen in the December issue of Discover magazine.

On Page 39, just before the feature on physicist Stephen Hawking, was a two-column picture of Roda and a story hailing her as one of the top five science "whiz kids" in the country.

A Discover reporter interviewed the 2008 Lancaster Catholic High School graduate in August, but Roda figured she'd rate a small blurb, at most, in the science and technology magazine.

"When I saw the headline ... it's unbelievable," Roda said Wednesday during a break between classes. "I'm certainly honored to be called that."

The magazine hailed Roda as one of the five "best science brains" under age 20 in America and lauded her for researching the impact of a nuclear power plant on the ecosystem of coastal New Jersey.

For three summers, Roda studied the quality of two creeks near Oyster Point power plant in Barnegat Bay, comparing her findings with those from a control creek seven miles away.

She designed and built her own apparatus to study water quality, plankton, worms, invertebrates and other organisms that degrade underwater surfaces.

Roda concluded that using creek water to cool the power plant severely altered the population of organisms in the two creeks.

Her research earned Roda numerous local and regional science fair awards and led to her participation last March in the Intel Science Talent Search, one of the most prestigious science competitions in America.

That same month, she was named a 2008 Presidential Scholar.

Roda also is a National Merit Scholar and the recipient of the American Museum of Natural History's Young Naturalist Award, the Pennsylvania Stockholm Water Prize and two Environ-

mental Protection Agency grants.

She's not sure why Discover considered her a "best brain," although Roda suspects her participation in the Intel competition may have piqued the magazine's interest.

In an e-mail, the maga-zine's editors said they considered researchers whose work has "a strong potential for

future impact" and who "demonstrate an understanding

of science and a commit-

ment to professional standards."

Roda has had little time to bask in her latest honor.

She's busy with biology and chemistry classes, as well as multivariable calculus, writing and Polish classes.

"It's a hard language, but I'm enjoying it a lot," said Roda, who fell in love with Poland during a family trip two years ago.

Until recently, she also had to endure daily four-hour practices as a goalie with the Harvard field hockey team.

Like all Harvard undergrads, Roda won't declare a major until next year. She's considering biology, pre-med, medical research, environmental science/research and possibly law, her "backup" choice.

Over the summer, she hopes to return to Barnegat Bay to work as an offshore environmental researcher.

Roda said her interest in science was formed at a young age and has taken her on an "unbelievable" journey.

"I got really into the science fair in eighth grade and freshman year ... and I had no conception it would take me this far," she said.

The key was discovering something she loved to do, Roda said.

"You have to find something you're really interested in and are willing to just devote a ton of energy to," she said.

"I know people say that a lot, but it really is true. If you're willing to put the time into it, you can go as far as you want to."

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com